Still Life with Baby

I had a conversation with a good friend yesterday that had her expressing amazement at the fact that I had left the house with two kids.  She said when her 2nd was born it left her home-bound for a long time.  We didn't talk too much about this, so I'm not sure if she tried and failed to leave the house, or it was just too much trouble to even bother to try.  I have made a major effort since the arrival of Jamie to make sure I'm still moving around and getting Lucy to her social events (as much social events for me as for her - perhaps more).

I'm thankful that Lucy is still as enamored with Jamie as she was the day he was born.  I often get her motivated to leave the house by "taking her baby" out the door without her. 

 

 Our latest event was VEISHEA, an ISU celebration that included a parade, concerts, and a day of booths and exhibitions on campus.  It was named after the original colleges at ISU: Veterinary, Engineering, Industrial Science, Home Economics, Agriculture.  People around here have been talking about this for weeks now; apparently around here it falls into the category of "Very Big Deal".  It kind of seems like Bumstock, but bigger and for the whole community. 

This weekend's weather was awful.  I was conflicted about bringing Lucy to the parade, should I stay or should I go kind of feeling.  There was a lot of asking Lucy if she wanted to go, as the whim of a two-year-old makes my decisions.  I guess I needed her on board if I was going to pack everyone up and head out the door into 35-degree weather with a whipping wind.  She was totally in.

What I didn't know, however, was that kids don't go to the VEISHEA parade without a halloween-style treat bag.  Every time she lifted her hand to wave to someone, she was hit with a tootsie roll or dum dum.  Fabulous - this kid now LOVES parades.

 The parade was standard-plus.  It was generally a local parade with a couple of impressive floats thrown in.  Apparently there are balloons?  I'm picturing something like at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, but since we arrived at the parade about 20 minutes after it started, I'm not sure that this is accurate.

 You know you're in Iowa when ....

 Baby J got his first taste of the "Very Big Deal" under pink cover.  He didn't appear to be bothered by the marching bands nor the cannon on the fraternity float, which shot at least three times in our general area.

 The post-parade thrill.  A little frostbite on her nose, some beads, pockets stuffed full of candy, and Hello Kitty glitter pens tucked firmly under her arm.  It just doesn't get much better.